


Amen for NYC

by rynbows



Series: NYC AU [1]
Category: Hyacinths - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Future, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Gen, LGBTQ Themes, M/M, Multi, New York City, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-17
Updated: 2020-01-17
Packaged: 2021-02-27 04:02:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22290751
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rynbows/pseuds/rynbows
Summary: A future AU in which the majority of the gang now lives in New York.
Relationships: Aiden Beckett/Elijiah Williams, Ali Roman/Emma Sherla, Aria Beckett/JC Cratchet, Eli Guildstern/Jolie Wojtkowosiak, Himalynn Ashigo/Hazel Frand-Beckett, Kiru Shi-Ta/Rika Adachi
Series: NYC AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1604527





	Amen for NYC

**Author's Note:**

> eEEeEeeE i'm gonna try to update this every week but i probably won't because i don't have a lot of motivation!!!! also i'm probably going to archive the IKS fic because it's still a wip

# September 3, 2022, 7:58 AM, 1500 Broadway, Midtown Manhattan, New York City

Ali glanced at the clock and sighed. “Only 8AM?” she mumbled to herself, all but slamming a lid onto a large paper cup. “I gotta medium Espresso von Panna for Claire,” she yelled out, ever so politely. “That’s me,” a woman with a denim dress casually shawled by a simple black jacket and a heavy-knit scarf called out wearily, awkwardly waving her hand in the air. Ali gently slid the steaming coffee over the counter, giving the slightly stressed-looking individual a small smile. “Have a good day, miss,” Ali said, a little absentmindedly. She could only think about the condensation forming on the bottom of the lid of each freshly brewed coffee right now--it made her stomach rumble just thinking about it. She could really go for some good sugar right now, but she couldn’t eat until break, which wasn’t for another twenty or so minutes.  
Ali sighed and watched Leo ring up more customers. She leaned on the side of the counter, gazing down the short line before someone caught her eye.

The welcome bells chimed all too cheerily as a petit lass with long blonde hair frantically waded her way into the Starbucks carrying all too many binders and sketchbooks with two particularly dense-looking bags weighted around her shoulders. She shifted her weight occasionally in the short-ish line, impatiently glancing at the clock on the wall with her cervine cornflower eyes. Her cheeks and forehead were pinked with what Ali assumed to be the whip of the wind and a sprint, judging by the way she was breathing. The girl chewed on her lip as she gazed down the line, which was obviously moving too slow for her tastes.

“Hey. Ali. You still in there?” Leo waved a hand in front of Ali’s face, brushing against her eyelashes lightly. She sputtered and pulled back, looking at her twin with a look of annoyance. Leo was confused at first, but his mind quickly put the puzzle together after he gave a quick glance where Ali’s gaze fell. “Ey. You have a girlfriend.” he elbowed Ali and raced back to the line of upcoming customers, calling over his shoulder, “Venti chai latte coming right up!” Ali pushed up off the counter after processing Leo’s remark. 

“Hey--!” Leo only looked over to her with a sorry-I-don’t-make-the-rules face. Ali scoffed and flicked on the all-too-familiar foam machine, readying the Tazo tea bags and the paper cup Leo had just slid her.

She sprinkled in cardamom, ginger, cinnamon, clove, and milk mindlessly. She’d been working at this Starbucks for years now, as long as she could remember. Ali could go on auto-pilot for an entire day and have barely any customer complaints, which was quite a nice option to have, considering she liked to daydream a lot. She wondered how Hazel was over at the repair shop right now. Either way, Hazel would stop by on her break to see Ali, and vice versa. Business had been quite slow ever since self-driving cars began to become popular, but there were always still quite a few collisions between car and car. Hazel would be rightfully grouchy about business and her indecision on careers and Ali would nod and stroke Hazel’s dyed crimson locks and kiss her and tell her it was going to be alright. She couldn’t wait for that. Ali dopily watched the foam conceal the warm tan of the tea as she slowly slipped out of her daydream.  
“Medium venti chai for--” Ali paused to read the name-- “--Ivy!” A spritely young woman stepped up as Ali nudged the tea towards her. 

Ivy smiled, showing off flawless red lipstick contrasting against perfect pearly whites, and chirped a “Thank you!” before turning to get a packet of sugar, being careful to cradle the hot cup not too close to her cream cardigan.

Ali glanced up to see who the next customer would be and she could feel all the sound in the world break away. The frantic honey-blonde Rapunzel stood before the counter, fumbling with a slip of paper and a company black card. She read off her order to Leo, who seemed much more interested in his job now and cheerily called out the blonde’s order. “Cold brewed blonde roast, three shots of espresso, and a venti, nonfat, light foam, two Splenda latte!”

Ali nodded so quickly she got whiplash. She headed over to make the blonde’s drink to avoid further embarrassment. Ali got to work on both the drinks, but not before stealing glances of the blonde over the espresso machine. The girl seemed quite tense, and looked like she was about to cry if anything so much as a fly buzzed by her ear. Her hands shook nervously and it looked like she was going to drop the ten pound binder she was cradling in her right arm any minute now. Ali decided that she would make this a damn good cup of coffee.

“Sooooo, do you work for Vogue?” Leo said rather loudly. The girl jumped in surprise but gave a small chuckle. 

“Huh, yeah. First day on the job…” she trailed off, trying not to look at the clock.

Leo sighed, leaning on the counter. “Why so nervous? It’s barely eight. I’d betcha that they’d understand if the newbie was late because she needed her daily dose of caffeine.”

The girl’s eyes twinkled a little and her shoulders dropped down a little bit. “Daily? For me it would be hourly,” she laughed, painful truth ringing clear in her eyes. Leo chuckled, bowing his head. He knew the feeling. “But, um, it’s not for me,” the girl shifted again, one bag dropping further to her right and keeping her balanced. “Well, the blonde roast is. The latte isn’t. It’s for my boss,” she explained, seeming a bit less tense after explaining her dilemma to someone. 

“Ah, I see,” Leo said, nodding. “So the BLONDE ROAST IS YOURS and the LATTE IS YOUR BOSS’,” he proclaimed as Ali steamed with pink cheeks of anger and embarrassment. Sometimes Leo could be helpful in the most stupidly obvious ways.

The girl quirked her head, a little confused, but continued half-smiling. She seemed genuinely at ease and amused by Leo, so Ali decided it was time to go to work and let Leo do his magic. Ali slowed down from her normal frenetic pace and steamed the coffee with care. She made sure that the coffee was as smooth as butter as she meshed it through a tight strainer and whisked it quickly, the saccharine citrusy tang arising quickly. To make sure it wasn’t too runny, she added even more beans to her concoction. Ali took one more look at the girl and made eye contact with Leo for about 0.025 seconds before he began projecting again. Twin telepathy must be real.

“So, what’s your name?” Leo asked, innocently. “I wanna know when so you’re big and famous I can tell my grandkids ‘Hey, the CEO of Vogue once came into my coffee shop a nervous wreck and a caffeine addict, and now look where she is now! There is hope for you all’. And then they can ignore me and throw rocks at me.” He grinned.

The girl gave a little good-natured snort before answering. “My name is Emma. Emma Sherla. As much as I love caffeine, I’d have to say it comes in a close second when salted caramel treats come in to play.”

“OH! YOU LIKE SALTED CARAMEL? I LOVE SALTED CARAMEL! IT’S MY FAVORITE!” Leo yelled into space, turning to give Ali a quick thumbs-up with his signature dopey grin.

Ali groaned (and would have facepalmed had not incredibly strong coffee been in her hand). She looked around before quickly running to their portable stovetop burner and throwing a small pot on it, turning up the heat to a steady four. She rummaged around the bar for caramel chips and milk and all but threw them in the pot as she carefully stirred the latte that she had been half-assing compared to the cold brew. She hoped it would be good for Emma and her boss. After the caramel had been mixed, Ali quickly turned the burner off and whisked the caramel into a creamy and runny room-temperature liquid, pouring only a few drops into the cold brew until it smelled just right.

“I have a cold brew with three espressos and a venti nonfat light foam Splenda latte for Ms. Shion!” Ali called out. Huh. She must have heard Emma’s last name wrong. It was Emma Shion, not Emma Sherla, apparently. 

“That’s for me, thank you,” Emma reached halfway across the counter for the two coffees where Ali had been holding them. Their fingers brushed against the cup as Ali handed them over.

“Woah, you sure that you’ve got it?” Ali said. Her dark brown eyes shone with sentience and honesty and Emma couldn’t help but to look away. Too much beauty for one whole day; that barista had enough beauty for a year. “For a year? Aw, shucks, Miss Shion, I’m not sure about that,” Emma looked up, confused, before freezing with horror after realizing she had been mumbling to herself the whole time. Ali’s brown eyes were stirred with confusion and the crinkles around her eyes bore...joy? No, it was probably amusement. Geez, Emma could never come back here again.

Emma raced out of the coffee shop with a face redder than it had been before, never to be seen again.


End file.
